Nogi Maresuke | |
|---|---|
乃木 希典 | |
 Nogi standing before his house in Nogizaka, Tokyo, shortly before his suicide in 1912 | |
| 3rdGovernor-General of Taiwan | |
| In office 14 October 1896 – 26 February 1898 | |
| Monarch | Meiji |
| Preceded by | Katsura Tarō |
| Succeeded by | Kodama Gentarō |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1849-12-25)December 25, 1849 Edo, Japan |
| Died | September 13, 1912(1912-09-13) (aged 62) Tokyo, Japan |
| Awards |
|
| Nickname(s) | Kiten Count Nogi |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Empire of Japan |
| Branch/service |  Imperial Japanese Army |
| Years of service | 1871–1908 |
| Rank | General |
| Battles/wars | |
CountNogi Maresuke (乃木 希典), also known asKiten, Count Nogi (December 25, 1849 – September 13, 1912), was a Japanese general in theImperial Japanese Army and agovernor-general of Taiwan. He was one of the commanders during the1894 capture of Port Arthur from China and a prominent figure in theRusso-Japanese War of 1904–05, as commander of the forceswhich captured Port Arthur from the Russians.
He was a national hero in Imperial Japan as a model of feudal loyalty and self-sacrifice, ultimately to the point of suicide. In theSatsuma Rebellion, he lost a banner of the emperor in battle, for which he tried to atone with suicidal bravery in order to recapture it, until ordered to stop. In theRusso-Japanese War, he captured Port Arthur but he felt that he had lost too many of his soldiers, so requested permission to commit suicide, which the emperor refused. These two events, as well as his desire not to outlive his master, motivated his suicide on the day of the funeral of theEmperor Meiji. His example brought attention to the concept ofbushido (moral code of thesamurai) and the controversial samurai practice ofjunshi (following the lord in death).[1]
Nogi Nakito was born on December 25, 1849, at theChōfu Domain Mansion inEdo (present-dayRoppongi,Tokyo), the third son ofsamurai cavalry officer (umamawari) Nogi Maretsugu and his wife Hisako. His father served theChōfu Domain, a subsidiary domain of theChōshū Domain, and held land worth 80koku.[2] His childhood name was Nakito (無人),[3] literally "no one", to prevent evil spirits from coming to harm him. He was briefly known as Bunzō, after which he was renamed Maresuke. As he claimed descent from theIzumoMinamoto clan through theSasaki clan, he often used the name Minamoto no Maresuke in his signatures.[2]
In November 1869, by the order of theNagato domain's lord, he enlisted inFushimi Goshin Heisha (lit. 'the Fushimi Loyal Guard Barrack') to be trained in the French style for the domanial Army. After completing the training, he was reassigned to the Kawatō Barrack inKyoto as an instructor, and then as Toyōra domain's Army trainer in charge of coastal defense troops.
In 1871, Nogi was commissioned as amajor in the fledglingImperial Japanese Army. Around this time, he renamed himselfMaresuke taking akanji from the name of his father. In 1875, he became the 14th Infantry Regiment's attaché. The next year (1876), Nogi was named as theKumamoto regional troop's Staff Officer, and transferred to command the 1st Infantry Regiment, and for his service in theSatsuma Rebellion, against the forces ofSaigō Takamori inKyūshū, he was promoted tolieutenant colonel on April 22, 1877. In a fierce battle at that time, he lost the 14th Infantry Regiment's regimental banner, which was considered to be the property of the Emperor, to the enemy. Its loss was an extreme disgrace. Nogi considered this such a grave mistake that he listed it as one of the reasons for his later suicide.[4]
On August 27, 1876, Nogi married Shizuko, the fourth daughter ofSatsumasamurai Yuji Sadano, who was then 20 years old. As Nogi was 28 years old, it was a very late marriage for that time, considering that the average age to marry was in the early 20s. On August 28, 1877, their first son Katsunori was born, and Nogi bought his first house at Niizakamachi,Akasaka, Tokyo. In 1879, his second son Yasunori was born.[citation needed] He was promoted tocolonel on April 29, 1880.
He was posted to Nagoya during the early Meiji era. The warehouse in the Sannomaru enceinte ofNagoya Castle was probably constructed in 1880 (Meiji 13) as an army ammunition depot. It was named later after him.[5]
Two years after his 1885 promotion tomajor general, Nogi went toGermany withKawakami Soroku to study Europeanmilitary strategy and tactics.[6]
In 1894, during theFirst Sino-Japanese War, Major-General Nogi commanded the First Infantry Brigade which penetrated the Chinese defenses and successfully occupiedPort Arthur in only one day of combat. As such, he was a senior commander during thePort Arthur massacre. The following year, he was promoted tolieutenant general (April 29, 1895) and assigned to theSecond Division, tasked with theinvasion of Taiwan. Nogi remained with the occupation forces in Taiwan until 1898. In 1899, he was recalled to Japan, and placed in command of the newly formed 11th Infantry Brigade, based inKagawa.[citation needed][7]
After the war, he was elevated todanshaku (baron); and he was conferred with theOrder of the Golden Kite, 1st class.[8]
Nogi was appointed as the third JapaneseGovernor-General of Taiwan from October 14, 1896, to February 1898. When moving to Taiwan, he moved his entire family, and during their time in Taiwan, his mother contractedmalaria and died. This led Nogi to take measures to improve on the health care infrastructure of the island.
However, unlike many of his contemporaries as officers, Nogi expressed no interest in pursuing politics.[citation needed]
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In 1904, Nogi was recalled to active service on the occasion of theRusso-Japanese War, and was promoted to armygeneral in command of theJapanese Third Army, with an initial strength of approximately 90,000 men and assigned to the capture of theRussian-heldPort Arthur on the southern tip ofLiaodong Peninsula,Manchuria. Nogi's forces landed shortly after theBattle of Nanshan, in which his eldest son, serving with theJapanese Second Army, was killed.[9] Advancing slowly down the Liaodong Peninsula, Nogi encountered unexpectedly strong resistance, and far more fortifications than he had experienced ten years earlier against the Chinese.
The attack against Port Arthur quickly turned into the lengthySiege of Port Arthur, an engagement lasting from August 1, 1904, to January 2, 1905, costing the Japanese massive losses. Due to the mounting casualties and failure of Nogi to overcome Port Arthur's defenses, there was mounting pressure within the Japanese government and military to relieve him of command. However, in an unprecedented action,Emperor Meiji spoke out during theSupreme War Council (Japan) meeting, defending Nogi and demanding that he be kept in command.[citation needed]
After the fall of Port Arthur, Nogi was regarded as a national hero. He led his Third Army against the Russian forces at the finalBattle of Mukden, ending the land combat phase of operations of the war.[10]
British historianRichard Storry noted that Nogi imposed the best of the Japanesesamurai tradition on the men under his command such that "...the conduct of the Japanese during the Russo-Japanese War towards both prisoners and Chinese civilians won the respect, and indeed admiration, of the world".[11]
Both of Nogi's sons, who were army lieutenants during the war, were killed in action. Though Nogi's elder son Katsunori (August 28, 1879 – May 27, 1904) had been a sickly child, he had managed to enter the imperial military academy on his third try. He was hit in the abdomen at the Battle of Nanshan and died of blood loss while undergoing surgery at a field hospital. His second son Yasunori (December 16, 1881 – November 30, 1904), a second lieutenant at Port Arthur, fell on a rocky slope, striking his head and dying instantly. Yasunori received a posthumous promotion to lieutenant, and was buried by his father in the Aoyama cemetery.
At the end of the war, Nogi made a report directly to Emperor Meiji during aGozen Kaigi. When explaining battles of the Siege of Port Arthur in detail, he broke down and wept, apologizing for the 56,000 lives lost in that campaign and asking to be allowed to kill himself in atonement. Emperor Meiji told him that suicide was unacceptable, as all responsibility for the war was due to imperial orders, and that Nogi must remain alive, at least as long as he himself lived.[12]
After the war, Nogi was elevated to the title ofcount and awarded theOrder of the Rising Sun with Paulownia Flowers, Grand Cordon, 1907.[8]
As head of thePeers' School from 1908 to 1912, he was the mentor of the youngHirohito, and was, perhaps, the most important influence on the life of the future emperor of Japan.[13]
Nogi spent most of his personal fortune on hospitals for wounded soldiers and on memorial monuments erected around the country in commemoration of those killed during the Russo-Japanese War. He also successfully petitioned the Japanese government to erect a Russian-style memorial monument in Port Arthur to the Russian dead of that campaign.[citation needed]
Nogi is significant toScouting in Japan, as in 1911, he went to England in attendance onPrince Higashifushimi Yorihito for thecoronation of King George V. The General, as the "Defender of Port Arthur" was introduced toGeneral Robert Baden-Powell, the "Defender ofMafeking", byLord Kitchener, whose expression "Once a Scout, always a Scout" remains to this day.
Nogi and his wife Shizuko died byseppuku shortly after theEmperor Meiji's funeral cortege left the palace.[14] The ritual suicide was in accordance with thesamurai practice of following one's master to death (junshi).[15] In hissuicide letter, he said that he wished to expiate for his disgrace in Kyūshū, and for the thousands of casualties at Port Arthur. He also donated his body to medical science.[4]
All four members of the Nogi family are buried atAoyama Cemetery in Tokyo. UnderState Shinto, Nogi was revered as akami.Nogi Shrine, aShinto shrine in his honor, still exists on the site of his house inNogizaka, Tokyo. His memory is also honored in other locations such as theNogi Shrine inFushimi-ku, Kyoto, where the mausoleum of Emperor Meiji was established.[16]
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Nogi'sseppuku immediately created a sensation and a controversy. Some writers claimed that it reflected Nogi's disgust with the profligacy and decline in moral values of late Meiji Japan. Others pointed to Nogi's own suicide note, calling it an act of atonement for mistakes in his military career. In either case, Nogi's suicide marked the end of an era, and it had a profound impact on contemporary writers, such asMori Ōgai,Kuroiwa Ruikō andNatsume Sōseki. For the public, Nogi became a symbol of loyalty and sacrifice.
The epic historical novelSaka no Ue no Kumo portrays Nogi as floundering at theSiege of Port Arthur and having to be relieved byKodama Gentarō. Several books have been released in recent years rehabilitating Nogi's image and showing he was a competent leader.
The Nogi Warehouse in the Sannomaru enceinte of Nagoya Castle was named after him.[5]
Nogi is also noted in Japan as a man of letters. HisKanshi poems (poems in the Chinese language) were especially popular among the Japanese during his time. Three of his Kanshi poems are famous.[17]
Right after theBattle of Nanshan of 1904, in which he lost his eldest son, he wrote:
| 金州城外の作 | Written Outside the Walls ofJinzhou |
|---|---|
| 山川草木轉荒涼 十里風腥新戰場 | Mountains and rivers, trees and grass, have become cold and desolate. For tenli, the foul odor of blood drifts on the wind over new battlefields. |
After the battle ofHill 203 of 1904–05, in which he lost his second son, he wrote:
| 爾靈山 | Nireisan |
|---|---|
| 爾靈山嶮豈難攀 男子功名期克艱 | Nireisan was indeed difficult to climb, But it was overcome by the deeds of young men. |
After the end of theRusso-Japanese War, he wrote:
| 凱旋 | Triumphant Return |
|---|---|
| 皇師百萬征強虜 野戰攻城屍作山 愧我何顔看父老 凱歌今日幾人還 | The Emperor's army, a million strong, set out to punish the powerful savages of the north. On the battlefield, in the midst of the sieges, the bodies of the dead piled up like mountains. |
Maresuke was portrayed byTatsuya Nakadai in the 1980 Japanesewardrama filmThe Battle of Port Arthur (sometimes referred as203 Kochi).[19] Directed byToshio Masuda the film depicted theSiege of Port Arthur during theRusso-Japanese War and starred Nakadai as General Maresuke,Tetsurō Tamba as GeneralKodama Gentarō, andToshirō Mifune asEmperor Meiji.
In theNHK television adaptation ofRyōtarō Shiba's epicSaka no Ue no Kumo, which aired from 2009 to 2011, Nogi was portrayed by actorAkira Emoto.
In the manga andNHK television adaptation ofMonster, General Nogi is mentioned by the Turkish elder and community leader, Mr. Deniz, convincing the others to trust Dr. Kenzo Tenma and a local prostitute when they attempt to convince the leaders of Frankfurt's Turkish Quarter to be wary of an imminent arson attack by neo-Nazis, led by The Baby. Deniz makes reference to an incident wherein General Nogi saved an Ottoman fleet of the Turkish Navy that had run aground in the Pacific. Although this is most likely a confusion withYamada Torajirō who did assist after the sinking ofOttoman frigate Ertuğrul.
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1922)."Maresuke, Nogi [Kiten]".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 31 (12th ed.). London & New York: The Encyclopædia Britannica Company. p. 1139.
